Monday 4 August 2014

Church Norton Skua

Two images of the Skua currently present at Church Norton that pose a number of questions appear on the Selsey blog for the last two days:

http://selseybirder.blogspot.co.uk/

The first 'lightened' here:

Skua (P. Sketch)
Small rounded head, no pale noseband, greyish shawl are all good pointers for Long-tailed Skua
 
Skua (Andy House)
Perhaps the above flight image posted is misleading, and it is very small, but my heart would be pumping seeing that one as it sure looks like an adult Long-tailed Skua to me... very slim body, no hint of a dark collar on the sides of its breast, smoky-brown lower belly, ashy-brown (not blackish) underwings that appear to lack any hint of a pale crescent formed by the pale bases to the primaries of an Arctic Skua